Signaling device for vehicles.



1. H. FERGQSON. SIGNALING DEVICE FOR VEHICLES.

APPLICATION FILED AUG.19| I916.

Patented Dem 1,1917.

2 SHEETS-SHEET I I. H;.. FERGUSON- SFGNALIVNG DEVICE FOR VEHICLES. APPLICATION FILED Aue.19 l9l6.

Patented Dec. 4, 1917.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

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JUNIUS H. FEBJGUSON, OF ROCHESTER, NEW YORK, ASSIG-NGR, BY DIRECT AND MESNE ASSIGNMENTS, 1'0 ALL-SEE TRAFFIC SIGNAL CO., INC., OF ROCHESTER, NEW YORK,

a coaroaa'rion.

SIGNALING DEVICE FOR VEHICLES.

manner.

Application filed August 19, 1916.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that T, JUNIUS H. Fnnooson, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of Rochester, in the county of Monroe and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Signaling Devices for Vehicles, of which the following is a specification. I

This invention relates to signaling devices for vehicles, and an object of the invention is to provide means for indicating the intended direction of a vehicle to an observer either in front of or behind the vehicle and either in daylight or at night. A further objectof the invention is to enable a device of this character to be simply and cheaply constructed and to be readily applied or adapted to a motor vehicle without changing or disorganizing any of the parts thereof. A still further object of the invention is to provide for controlling two signaling members from a single controller so that they may be moved together or separately.

To these and other ends the invention consists of certain parts and combinations of parts all of which will be hereinafter described, the novel features being pointed out in the appended claims.

In the drawings Figure 1 is a front elevation of the signalin device, the associated parts of the vehic e being indicated in dotted lines, and the signaling members occupying the normal position;

Fig. 2 is a similar view showing the device operated to exhibit an indication on one side only Fig. 3 IS a rear elevation showing in detail the locking plate for the manually operated shifting member Fig. 4c is a vertlcal section on the line 4,4 of Fig. 3;

Fig. 5 is a vertical section on the line 55 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 6 is an enlarged detailed view of a portion of Fig. 1;

Fig. 7 is a perspectiveview of the manuall operated member 5 and I ig. 8 is a perspective view of an electrical contact member.

' The various parts of'the device are mounted on a flat bar 10 which is adapted to be fixed in the present instance just below the bottom of the wind shield of an automobile and slightly in the rear thereof so -as to oc- Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Dec. 4t, 191W.

Serial No. 115,903.

brackets being fastened by screws 12 to side posts 13- of the wind shield and ha ving laterally turned portions lithat lie in contact with the bar 10. Bolts 15 are provided. to hold the bar 10 and the parts 14 together. )n opposite ends of the bar 10 are blades or other movable signaling elements 16 an 17, so as to be, respectively, at the drivers left and right hand. These blades are preferably pivotally mounted on thebar 10 by suitable means such as a shouldered screw 18 Fig. 5), this screw also serving, in conjunction with the bolts 15, to retain the portions 14. of the brackets. On the rear side of each blade is a reinforcing'plate 19 which has an extension 20 above andv at, one Side of the pivot18. To the portions 20 of the blades 16 and 17 are pivoted rods or links 21 and 21*, respectively, the links in their turn being pivotally connected at 22 and 23,.

respectively $0 a disk or controller 24: that is fixed o a squared portion 25 of a shaft 26. This shaft is rotatable and laterally movable in a slot 27 in the bar 10, and has an elongated abutment 28 that prevents it from moving forwardly and away from said bar. On the rear face of the bar 10, a plate 29'is fasv toned in a suitable manner as byserews 30, and this' iate has a central slot co-exten'sive with the slot 27 aforesaid. The plate 29 is a portion of the means whereby the signaling blades 16 and 17 are locked in the desired positions. i

Mounted on the abutment 28 and the shaft 26 is 'a disk 31 that is fastened at 32 to a knob 33 (see Fig. 7). instance constitutes a part of the controlling means for moving the signaling blades. The shaft 26 extends through an enlarged counterbore in the center of the knob 33 and is threaded at its outer end to receive a nut 34. A s ring against the forward slde of the nut 34 to hold the disk 31 against the plate 29. One

This knob in this 35 surrounds the shaft and presses or more pins 36 are set in the disk 31 and, under the action of the spring 35, are pressed give an indication of the intended direction' of the vehicle is as follows:

Assuming the operating or driver of the vehicle desires to turn to his left; he operates the device to move the left blade 16 to a horizontal position, as shown in Fig. 2. This is done by pulling the knob 33 away from the plate 29 and pushing it toward the left, while at the same time giving it .a turning movement in that direction. During this movement, the pivot 23 serves as a fulcrum for the movement of the controller or disk 24 and this disk therefore both rotates and moves bodilytoward the left until the shaft 26 reaches the end of the slot 27, the pins 36 meanwhile riding along the face of the plate 29 until the pins 28 reach a position where they may enter th holes 40. Upon the release of the knob 33, the spring 35 forces the pins 36 into the holes 40, and the parts are locked against movement until again operated. This leaves the right hand blade 17 standing upright while the left hand blade 16 lies horizontally. To bring the blade 16 back to'itsupright position, the knob is pulled out and both turned and moved toward the right so as to bring the pins 36 into a position to enter the holes-37.

To move the blade 17 to horizontal position, the knob 33 is pulled out and pushed toward the right, at the same time being given a slight twist toward the left which causes the controller disk 24 to move about the pivotal point 22 as a fulcrum until the shaft 22 reaches the right handend of the slot 27, at which point the pins 36 will cooperate with the holes 39. If it is desired to drop both blades to the horizontal position simultaneously for signaling traffic con gestion, the knob 33 is not moved toward right or left but is pulled out and-merely rotated toward the left, this action causing the shaft 26 to act as the pivotal point and resulting in the actuation of both links 21 so that both blades are lowered. When in this position, the pins 36 engage the holes 38 in the plate 29. Either blade by this arrangement may be shifted without shifting the other blade, regardless of which position the other blade occupies.

To render the device useful at night, the blades 16 and 17 may be provided with lamps, preferably miniature incandescent bulbs, which may be lighted by a current from the battery on the vehicle. In the embodiment of the invention shown herewith two lamps are provided on each blade, these lamps being of different colors such, for instance, as green and red, and being so arranged that the light of one color is visible when a blade is upright and the light of an other color shows when a blade is lowered to horizontal position.

The particular arrangement shown herewith embodies a pair of lamps 41 and 42 suitably fixed in each blade 16 and 17 and, respectively, as green and red. These lamps may be inclosed in a protective casing 43,

this casing and the blade being provided with openings 44 alined with the lamps so that the latter are visible from either the and the ends of these posts project somedistance beyond the reinforcing plate 19 and are adapted to make contact, respectively, with branches 49 and 50 of a plate 51, said plate being most conveniently located between the bar 10 and a washer 52 and being also securely held by the bolt'15.

When-either of the blades 16 or 17 occupics the upright position, the post 47 thereon touches the branch 49 of the plate 51, and if the electrical circuit is closed, the current may flow through the feed wire 46 and back through the return wire 41 to the post 47, thence to the part 49 which is grounded on the frame of the vehicle through the blade, the bar 10, and the bracket 11. If the blade is swung downward toward horizontalposition, the post 47 moves off the part 49 and simultaneously therewith the post 48 moves "nto contact with the part 50 so that the electrical circuit is completed through the feed wire 46, the return wire 42, the post 48, and the part 50, toground, causing one lamp to be lighted as soon as the other is extinguished. Obviously, it is not necessary to have lamps of two colors, that is to say, the lamp indicating the vertical position might be omitted. It is, however, desirable to show two corresponding lights on a vehicle when approaching a turning point and then a change in one of the lights will give an indication that is readily observable by a traflic ofiicer or the driver of another vehicle. The green lights will indicate the position of the vehicle when. the headlights are obscured or do not indicate the position of the vehicle.

- Obviously the particular structure shown in the drawings and described herewith may be varied to suit the requirements of manufactur without departing from the invention as defined in the following claims.

What I claim as my invention and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. In combination with a pair of movable signaling elements, a controller having two movements,'one about an axis and the other bodily in a plane at right angles to the said axis to either side of the latter, and con-' bodily in a plane at right angles to the said axis to either side of the latter, and connections between the signaling elements adapted, when the controller is turned about the axis, to move both signaling elements to signaling positions, and, when the controller is moved to either side of said axis, to move one of the signaling elements to si aling position, said connections being pivotally connected to the controller on opposite sides of the turning axis of the controller.

3. In combination with a pair of pivoted signaling elements, a controller having two movements, one about an axis and the other bodily in a plane at right angles to the'said axis to either side of the latter, and connections between the signaling elements and said controller adapted, when the controller is turned about the axis, to move both signalmg elements to signaling positions, and, when the controller is moved to either side of said'axis, to move one of the signaling elements to signaling position, said connections being pivotally connected to the signaling elements and being pivotally conneced to the controller on opposite sides of the turning axis of the. controller.

4. In combination with a pair of pivoted slgnaling elements, a controller having two .movements, one about an axis and the other the other bodily to either side of said axisof rotation and in a plane at right angles to said axis of rotation, and rods connected to said signaling elements and also to saidcontroller, said rods being pivoted to the controller on opposite sides to the axis of rotation.

JnN Us H. FERGUSON. 

